• Advertise
  • Donate
  • Subscribe
    • Become a print subscriber
    • Sign up for e-Newsletter
    • e-Editions
Tuesday, October 3, 2023
No Result
View All Result
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
  • News & Features
    • National
    • Local
    • Special Editions
      • MLK Legacy
      • Black History Month
      • The MSR Celebrates Women’s History Month
  • All Sections
    • Opinion
      • Mellaneous by Mel Reeves
      • Word on the Street
      • Reaching Out From Within
    • Health + Wellness
      • Women’s Wellness
      • Parenting Today
      • Minnesota Cancer Alliance Breast Cancer Gaps Project
    • Sports
      • Timberwolves/NBA
      • Lynx/WNBA
        • 20 in 20
      • Twins/MLB
      • MN Wild/NHL
      • Vikings/NFL
    • Business
      • Small Business Month Celebration
      • Black Business Spotlight
      • Finances FYI
    • Arts + Culture
    • Photo Galleries
      • Photo of the Week
    • MSR Forefront Digital Roundtable Series
      • MSR Forefront Highlights
    • Go Green
    • Education
    • Bulletin
    • Jobs & Notices
      • Legals
      • Announcements
  • Events
    • Submit an event!
  • Obits
  • Sister Spokesman
  • e-Editions
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
  • News & Features
    • National
    • Local
    • Special Editions
      • MLK Legacy
      • Black History Month
      • The MSR Celebrates Women’s History Month
  • All Sections
    • Opinion
      • Mellaneous by Mel Reeves
      • Word on the Street
      • Reaching Out From Within
    • Health + Wellness
      • Women’s Wellness
      • Parenting Today
      • Minnesota Cancer Alliance Breast Cancer Gaps Project
    • Sports
      • Timberwolves/NBA
      • Lynx/WNBA
        • 20 in 20
      • Twins/MLB
      • MN Wild/NHL
      • Vikings/NFL
    • Business
      • Small Business Month Celebration
      • Black Business Spotlight
      • Finances FYI
    • Arts + Culture
    • Photo Galleries
      • Photo of the Week
    • MSR Forefront Digital Roundtable Series
      • MSR Forefront Highlights
    • Go Green
    • Education
    • Bulletin
    • Jobs & Notices
      • Legals
      • Announcements
  • Events
    • Submit an event!
  • Obits
  • Sister Spokesman
  • e-Editions
No Result
View All Result
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
No Result
View All Result

Pastor’s criticism of LGBTQ not mentioned in his public eulogies

by Rev. Irene Monroe
March 7, 2018
4
SHARES
83
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on LinkedIn

The Reverend William (Billy) Franklin Graham Jr. (1918 – 2018) has died at the age of 99. Too often, hagiographies are painted when people die, especially of ministers. The televangelist, however, is not deserving of such high praises.

While Graham’s inarguably the most influential minister of the 20th Century, his ministry — which provided pastoral counseling to U.S. presidents from Harry Truman to Barack Obama — lived at the crossroads of fear and intolerance as the wrath of God.

Graham promoted his brand of evangelical Christianity — the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association — like a traveling salesman by conducting tent revivals in rural backwaters and gospel fests in urban cities. When Graham expanded his ministry to include multimedia — a television show and his famous weekly Hour of Decision radio program that was broadcast on more than 1,200 stations across the globe — many queried about his zealous self-promotion that morphed into a global business. “We are selling the greatest product on earth. Why shouldn’t we promote it as effectively as we promote a bar of soap?” Graham told the Saturday Evening Post in 1963.

Looking at the arc of Graham’s public ministry, from the 1950s to the present, the outpouring of grief has overlooked his damaging and damning messages toward and about LGBTQ Americans.

- ADVERTISEMENT -

To his dying day, Graham believed LGBTQs could be cured. His website still promotes reparative therapy: “If you have a loved one who’s homosexual, you may refer to Someone I Love is Gay by Anita Worthen and Bob Davies, or if you’re a Christian struggling with homosexuality, consider Coming out of homosexuality by Bob Davies and Lori Rentzel.”

As an opponent of marriage equality, Graham’s pastoral advice concerning LGBTQ marriages was that “The Bible provides God’s blueprint for marriage and for His good gift of sex in Genesis 2:24. The gift is only to be enjoyed within a marriage between a man and a woman. There are no exceptions suggested, such as homosexual partnerships.” And, in 2012, Graham supported actions to amend his state constitution to define marriage “between one man and one woman.”

At a time when many Americans were looking for a definitive spiritual answer for the occurrence of AIDS, Graham, in 1993, told a crowd of 44,300 in Cooper Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, that he thought the AIDS epidemic was the wrath of God: “Is AIDS a judgment of God? I could not say for sure, but I think so.” Graham’s response went global. He retracted with an apology, but the damage was done.

Sadly, Billy Graham’s ministry of intolerance toward LGBTQ people has unquestionably been passed down to his son Franklin, whose homophobic remarks trumps his father’s and is in lockstep with this present administration.

“I’m going to encourage the Church to take a stand for Christ. Homosexuality has been allowed into our schools, that’s why I want to get the school boards back,” Franklin Graham stated during a radio Q&A segment with Focus on the Family program, another national religious anti-LGBTQ organization.

- ADVERTISEMENT -

“You cannot stay gay and continue to call yourself a Christian. You can’t do it,” Franklin continued.

Unfortunately, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association will continue to be a revered global ministry around the world. I shudder to think of all this hate speech passed down from father to son will be done in the name of God.

 

Rev. Irene Monroe is a Huffington Post blogger and freelance journalist.

 

- ADVERTISEMENT -

Support Black local news

Help amplify Black voices by donating to the MSR. Your contribution enables critical coverage of issues affecting the community and empowers authentic storytelling.

Donate Now!

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...
ADVERTISEMENT
Previous Post

Women’s sports still shoved to back of media coverage bus

Next Post

Issa Rae: African Americans must ‘reclaim’ their stories

Rev. Irene Monroe

Rev. Irene Monroe is an African American lesbian feminist public theologian, sought-after speaker, and preacher.

You Might Also Like

Facing criticism, feds award first maternal health grant to a predominantly Black rural area
National

Facing criticism, feds award first maternal health grant to a predominantly Black rural area

Upcoming Black Business Ball gives Black-owned businesses a night to shine
Local

Upcoming Black Business Ball gives Black-owned businesses a night to shine

Minneapolis police officers head to Alabama for HBCU recruiting trip
Local

Minneapolis police officers head to Alabama for HBCU recruiting trip

Ampersand Families
Employment

Human Resources Manager, ampersand families

Program Coordinator
Employment

Office Coordinator

Program Coordinator
Employment

Program Coordinator

Next Post
Issa Rae: African Americans must ‘reclaim’ their stories

Issa Rae: African Americans must ‘reclaim’ their stories

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
ADVERTISEMENT

Upcoming Events

Sep 12
September 12 @ 6:30 pm-December 18 @ 9:30 pm Recurring

Vic Volare Presents MUSIC FOR MARTINIS ft: Vic’s Fabulous Nightclub Academy

Oct 3
October 3 @ 8:30 am-October 4 @ 5:30 pm

Insects: Little Body, Big Impact | Nobel Conference 59 | Virtual or In-Person

Oct 4
6:00 pm-8:00 pm

An Evening with Liz Cheney

Oct 5
7:00 pm-9:00 pm

The Bombing of Cubana Flight 455: Why it Matters

View Calendar
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Read our latest e-Edition!

PHOTO: Barbie back-to-school party

A Barbie back to school party.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Subscribe

  • Home/Office Delivery
  • Weekly e-newsletter
  • e-Editions

Support

  • Donate
  • Subscribe
  • MSR Newsstand Locations

Connect

  • About
    • MSR Staff
  • Contact
  • Send a news tip
  • About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms

© 2023 Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder

No Result
View All Result
  • News & Features
    • Local
    • National
  • All Sections
    • Arts & Culture
    • Health & Wellness
      • Women’s Wellness
      • Parenting Today
      • MN Cancer Alliance Breast Cancer Gaps Project
    • Business
      • Black Business Spotlight
      • Finances FYI
      • Small Business Month Celebration
    • Opinion
    • Sports
  • Events
  • Obits
  • Sister Spokesman
  • Donate
  • Subscribe

© 2023 Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder

 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: